Christ Lutheran Vail is a community of followers of Jesus Christ, committed to live by faith, to be known by love, and to be a voice of hope. We welcome people from all walks of life, wherever they are in their spiritual journey.

Jun 19, 2016

Devotion for 19 June - Relationships

A brief prayer is offered that you can add to your daily
prayers this week. The scripture is from our Sunday Service Bulletin for today.
We are continuing a sermon series on
relationships. Last week was about our relationship with God. This week we talk
about how that relationship with God enhances our relationships in our circle
of friends and family.

GOSPEL READING
Matthew 18: 21-22 (English Standard Version)

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will
my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus
said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Devotion: Accepting
an Apology You Never Got

There is a bit of symbolism in our text today, please let me
explain a bit. Rabbinic discussion in the days of Peter said that 3 times was
the limit of forgiveness. In verse 21, possibly Peter is rejecting this and offering
up 7 [symbolizing perfection] times as perfect forgiveness. Jesus’ response is saying
you need to be beyond perfection. As God’s mercy is without limit than
forgiveness should be infinite. In our sermon today we emphasized three things
that typify Christians [or at least should!] that can enhance earthly relations:
1- forgiveness, 2- love, and 3- truthfulness. Wouldn’t it be great if all the
people that you associated with were very good at those three things? You
can start it all by being that person! Here is a quote from Mahatma Gandhi:
“The weak can never forgive, forgiveness is the attribute of the strong”. You may be amazed at the cleansing effects of being
strong enough to accept an apology you never got!

We pray: Lord grant
us forgiveness and help us speak the truth in love. Amen